Stellan Skarsgard

Stellan John Skarsgård born on 13 June 1951. He is a Swedish actor, known internationally for his film roles in Angels & Demons, Breaking the Waves, The Hunt for Red October, Ronin, Good Will Hunting, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, At World's End, Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist and Mamma Mia!.

Acting career - Question book-new.svg:This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2010). Skarsgård started his acting career early. At the age of 20 he already had a great deal of experience in film, TV and stage. Most of his early roles were in Swedish TV (such as Bombi Bitt) and movies.

To foreigners Skarsgård is particularly associated with director Lars von Trier. He appeared in three of the Danish auteur's features including The Kingdom, Breaking the Waves and Dogville. His most personal working relationship, however, is with Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland. Relevant films here are Kjærlighetens kjøtere, Aberdeen and A Somewhat Gentle Man (2010). Skarsgård considers Moland a close friend. Before shooting their next project in 2009 he said of their relationship: "We're like an old married couple and I get separation anxiety." Aside from these, his best-known Scandinavian work is probably his leading role in another Norwegian film as the guilt-ridden policeman Jonas Engström in the original Insomnia.

He was considered for the role of Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List. Skarsgård reported that people often mistook him for Liam Neeson who portrayed Schindler in the film. Skarsgård would in fact replace Neeson in Exorcist: The Beginning (2004). He had a guest stint on the HBO TV Series Entourage as Verner Vollstedt, the German director of the fictional film Smokejumpers who has a bias against the main character Vincent Chase, one of the stars of the film.According to Swedish news site Ystads Allehanda, Skarsgård has joined the cast of Thor in an unspecified role.

Personal life:Skarsgård was born in Gothenburg, Sweden; the son of Gudrun (née Larsson) and Jan Skarsgård. He moved often in his childhood and lived, amongst other places, in Totebo, Kalmar, Marielund and Uppsala. With his first wife, My Skarsgård (married 1975–2007), he fathered six children, four of them actors: Alexander Skarsgård (born 1976), Gustaf Skarsgård (born 1980), Sam Skarsgård (born 1982), Bill Skarsgård (born 1990), model Eija Skarsgård (born 1992) and Valter Skarsgård (born 1995). He married Megan Everett in January 2009 and their son Ossian, was born on April 26, 2009.Views on religion:Skarsgård was raised by humanist parents and had an atheist grandfather and a deeply religious grandmother; according to Skarsgård, this never led to any problems because of the family's mutual respect for each other's opinons. After the September 11 attacks, Skarsgård set out to read both the Bible and the Qur'an, both of which he condemns as violent. Skarsgård is also a critic of religious independent schools in the Swedish educational system. Skarsgård has said he considers the notion of God absurd and that if a real God were actually so vain as to constantly demand worship, then he would not be worth it.

In 2009 Skarsgård, along with other non-religious artists, authors and entrepreneurs including Christer Sturmark, Björn Ulvaeus and Christer Fuglesang, wrote an article in Dagens Nyheter stressing the importance of secularity. The group also criticized the United Nations for its stance on blasphemy laws.